James Wood gives away a truck

Published Thursday, February 14, 2008

By Denny Deady

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo has many exciting events, but Kendra Schmies of Arlington can tell you which one tops the list.

The 25-year-old Lockheed-Martin engineer won the grand prize in the 2008 James Wood Truck Giveaway sponsored by the James Wood General Motors dealerships in Decatur and Denton in cooperation with KSCS Radio.

"From the beginning of the stock show, anyone and everyone can register to win our truck, " said Susan Miller, James Wood's marketing director. She explained that six semi-finalists in the drawing are asked to come to the James Wood booth on Feb. 3, the last day of the Stock Show.

There, each semi-finalist was given a George Strait CD by KSCS along with the opportunity to visit with radio-station personality Brother Van.

The six opened their CD with anticipation, as it would have either a "Finalist" sticker or a trip giveaway. Kendra was one of the lucky three who got the chance to be driven into the rodeo arena to draw for the key to the red GMC pickup.

Kendra, the second finalist, had the winning key. "I couldn't even tell if it had started because the crowd was so loud," she said. "But, the camera man said it did, and I went crazy!"

"She was so excited once she realized her key had actually started the truck," said Miller. "Kendra's three friends in the audience were going crazy themselves."

At last year's rodeo, Kendra sat right next to the son of Karen Wilkinson of Flower Mound, the 2007 winner of the truck. "She thought then it was so surreal that the contest was legitimate, and it really was happening to someone," Miller said. "How ironic that it was her the following year."

Because the finalists must arrive in the alley about one hour before they actually drive into the arena, Kendra was able to see only about 45 minutes of the rodeo.

"We are sure Kendra Schmies didn't mind missing most of the rodeo so that she could drive away in a new 2008 James Wood GMC pickup of her own," the dealerships' spokesperson pointed out.